Organ recipient meets her 'angel' - pay-it-forward movement

[okarol]

Organ recipient meets her 'angel'
Texan finally gets to thank the man whose kidney donation is part of a pay-it-forward movement linking donors, patients
By TODD ACKERMAN Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 23, 2008, 11:08PM

Texan Brenda Chapa finally got to say thank you Thursday to the man whose donation of a kidney to her last week is expected to kick-start the newest domino-like chain of strangers giving to strangers.

At times, the moment seemed like it might be too much for Chapa, 41, who grabbed at her heart to steady emotions that she said caused it to beat too fast, to feel like "it's going to pop out at any second."

"As long as the kidney's fine," deadpanned Carey Barrett, 42, who traveled from Georgia to give it away.

Chapa eventually gained the words that initially eluded her, telling Barrett, "I believe in angels, and I've finally met mine."

Eight days after Barrett's altruistic gift — part of a nationwide pay-it-forward movement that's shortening the waiting time for kidney donations — donor and recipient met for the first time Thursday in Chapa's room at Memorial Hermann Hospital.

By the time the meeting was over, they were feeling like old friends — planning get-togethers, joking about their scars, trading stories about their hospital stay.

The movement, started last year by an Ohio transplant doctor in response to a shortage of kidneys, begins with a donor like Barrett, someone not motivated by a loved one in need. That person gives to a stranger who had lined up a donor who turned out to be incompatible. And that donor, in turn, gives to a stranger with whom he or she matches.

The cycle continues with the second recipient's incompatible donor giving to a stranger in the same predicament, and so on.

Because it can continue indefinitely, it is called the Never-Ending Altruistic Donor Chain.

This chain will be continued by Chapa's husband's ex-sister-in-law, Christine Olascuaga, one of 10 loved ones who came forward to offer Chapa a kidney, only to prove incompatible. The Alliance for Paired Donation, which coordinates the chains, today will perform a computer run to look for a match for Olascuaga in its network.

Thus far, three other such chains have resulted in 16 transplants, and all recipients are still going strong. In the past week, since the program received national media attention, almost 200 people have contacted the Alliance wanting to take part, the majority as donors.

The movement's pioneer thinks it could result in an additional 3,000 kidney transplants a year if it becomes mainstream.

Currently, about 17,000 people a year get transplants, most drawn from a waiting list that encompasses more than 75,000 people. The wait can last years, and about 4,000 people annually die before getting one.

Never-ending chains build on an idea, called paired donations, that's gained momentum in recent years.

In the practice, the source of hundreds of transplants, swaps occur between two or more sets of incompatible donors and recipients. Unlike chains, they begin and end on the same day.

Methodist Hospital is Houston is slated to perform such a paired donation today.

Chapa had been eagerly looking forward to meeting Barrett since she first heard a stranger had matched and would provide her a kidney.

Protocol calls for donor and recipient to not meet until after the transplant in the event the donor backs out, then a slow recovery from last week's transplant postponed the meeting a few days.

Before then, curiosity got the better of her husband and teenage daughter. While she recuperated, they sneaked around the floor, finally catching a glimpse of Barrett in his room from behind but deciding to leave it at that and not spoil the moment.

Although Barrett's wife says he's finally starting to realize what a great thing he did — e-mails of praise have come from as far away as Puerto Rico and Ireland — Barrett seemed as matter-of-fact about it as ever Thursday, saying he did it because he could, because he's healthy and works in an office that doesn't require heavy lifting.

He joked that his surgical scar made him look like he can easily survive knife fights and advised Chapa that her new kidney likes Starbucks.

When she confessed he didn't look like the image she'd conjured up, he guessed it was Fabio, then did his best impression.

"This shows what a difference people can make," said Chapa, who does accounting work in Wharton. "After all but giving up hope, I now plan to take advantage of this second chance."

todd.ackerman@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6075677.html